1st Edition
Re-enacting the Past Essays on the Evolution of Modern English Historiography
By Joseph M. Levine
Copyright 2004
320 Pages
by
Routledge
How and why did modern historiography take on its present form? Re-enacting the Past addresses the problem in England by looking at some of the ways that the Renaissance and the Reformation affected writing and thinking about history, and left a legacy to modern historiography. Professor Levine concentrates on how neoclassicism in the early modern period both reflected and shaped the English use... Read more
Contents: Introduction. Part 1 History and the Classics: Ancients and Moderns reconsidered; Jonathan Swift and the idea of history; 'Et Tu Brute?' History and forgery in 18th-century England; Why neoclassicism? Politics and culture in 18th-century England. Part 2 History, Religion and Science: Sir Walter Ralegh and the ancient wisdom; Latitudinarians, neoplatonists, and the ancient wisdom; Deists and Anglicans: the ancient wisdom and the idea of progress; From tradition to history: Chillingworth to Gibbon; Nicolson as a virtuoso. Part 3 R.G. Collingwood and the Modern Idea of History: The autonomy of history: R.G. Collingwood and Agatha Christie; Collingwood, Vico, and the Autobiography; Idea of history; Natural history and the history of the scientific revolution; Method in the history of ideas: More, Machiavelli, and Quentin Skinner; Objectivity in history: Peter Novick and R.G. Collingwood. Index.
Biography
Joseph M. Levine is Distinguished Professor of History at Syracuse University, USA.
